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Mt. Pleasant

Mansion & Grounds

The Madison Family's First Montpelier Home

Mount Pleasant was the President’s childhood home. The location and layout of the site has been revealed through archaeological surveys and excavations. As a plantation complex, Mount Pleasant included the main house and several outbuildings: a kitchen, storage buildings, slave quarters, barns, and work areas necessary for processing the crops harvested from the fields. The Madison Family Cemetery was established in the early history of Mount Pleasant following the death of Mr. Madison's grandfather, Ambrose Madison, in 1732.

Following the Madison family move in 1760 to the Montpelier main house, in 1765 Mount Pleasant was razed and burned and the kitchen was likely the only structure remaining on the site. A fire in 1800 resulted in the last structure at the old home site being destroyed leaving the only remaining vestige of Mount Pleasant, the Madison Family Cemetery.